Carry on Regardless
by In-A-Parallel-World
Summary: One-Shot. Post flight. 2 years on - where are they now? Cristina's POV. Slexie Crowen Calzona Merder


**Christina's point of view - what happens after? Slexie, calzona, crowen, merder. If you've read other stuff by me you know the main couple :)**

**Okay so I wrote this, read through it and realised I'd completely jeffed the prose up so had to go back and change it all - arrgh! so sorry if I missed the odd word, I have checked but things can always get missed.**

**I know you know this but I'll say it anyway - Grey's ain't mine, so don't blame me for the season 8 finale! This is a different take on it I think, but sorry if somebody has done the same lives/dies scenario. Not that I'm saying anyone dies…read and find out :)**

* * *

Today had been beyond crappy, I didn't even want to think about it's significance anymore. I threw myself onto the sofa, grabbed a crappy gossip mag off the coffee table and skimmed through it, just glad to be doing something mundane for a while, when I came across a headline to an article.

_**TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR OWN DESTINY **_

_Huh, yeah right. Total bullshit!_

I'd never believed in that crap, I believed in medicine. But after our plane crashed in the woods I had to believe in it, destiny definitely played it's part that day, it's the only thing that can explain everything that happened. That catastrophe changed my perspective, It changed me, It changed _everything._

Two years to the day, was the worst day of my life.

* * *

It had started of so ordinary, no emergent cases, just stood in the pit and occasionally doing some sutures. Everyone was talking about where they were going to take their fellowships. It seemed like everyone was about to move on, maybe that should have triggered something as if it were significant, but it didn't and we all carried on as normal.

Our little group of residents all had lunch together. It had felt strange to me at the time, as it would be the last time we would all be together. It was something so simple, so everyday that you wouldn't think about it twice, but I knew I would miss it. It was our chance to bitch, gossip, complain and mock. Meredith was moody because she didn't want to leave Seattle: Alex was stuffing spaghetti in his mouth and making jokes as always: April was depressed and Jackson was trying to comfort her, though something seemed different between them: And Lexie was just quiet, watching us all. At first I thought it was because she would be the only one left, and still be a resident, but then she abruptly left at the mention of Sloan.

I smiled at the memory, of us all been in our own little worlds, but all together. Meredith had often called us her family and looking back I would have to agree. As I'd watched Lexie walk away I remembered wondering if her and Mark would ever work out their differences, but the next time I saw them together Lexie had half a plane on top of her.

* * *

I couldn't remember all of what had happened after the plane hit the ground, wasn't sure how long I was out before coming round, but I could remember the carnage. When I saw Meredith laying on the ground I'd feared the worst, but then her eyelids flickered and soon my best friend was awake and standing up, looking only a little battered and bruised. I'd heard screaming for sometime but it took a while to identify the noise as an actual person, which is when I saw Arizona with a horrific broken leg (in which I could see bone) but apparently very healthy lungs. As I told Arizona to shut the hell up (screaming really wasn't going to help) Mark stumbled towards us with no apparent injuries, just looking badly shaken.

That's when we heard the banging. As I tried to work out the direction it came from, Arizona stretched her arm out and pointed. We made our way towards the sound once we made sure that Robbins would be okay by herself, but stopped short when we saw an arm underneath a tonne of metal.

I watched as Lexie lied to Mark about her injuries, and waited till he started trying to lift the plane before asking for the honest answer. We looked at each other, knowing there was nothing we could do, we were in the middle of the woods, not in a hospital, and even with medicine and surgery the odds of her surviving these kind of injuries weren't good. My heart broke at Mark's denial. I understood it, he couldn't believe that he wouldn't get a chance to be with the person he loved, to really try at making a relationship work between them. She was so young, she had so much life ahead of her, it wasn't supposed to end here, in the middle of nowhere, with so much pain. I left them together, to say what they needed to say and went on a futile mission for supplies to help save Lexie.

I checked on Arizona and the pilot. They were both still alive thank God. Arizona was in the same condition: injured but stable, but it looked like the pilot was going to be paralyzed. I came across Meredith as I began the walk back to Mark and Lexie. She was freaking out at the whole situation and she still hadn't seen any trace of Derek. She was about to carry on looking for him but I told her to follow me, she needed to see Lexie. It didn't help calm her down, but she had to know, she had to see her sister one last time. We got there too late, Mark was lying on the ground holding onto the love of his life's hand, tears streaming down his face and saying "I love you" over and over again. People had always thought of me as emotionally stunted (even my own mother) but I let the tears fall freely right then. Lexie had been my intern, the _best _intern, and once I had got Meredith to accept her as her sister, I was free to like her and I really had.

After that things began to blur again. I remember Meredith crying, she had lost her sister and Derek was missing. Then Derek appeared out of nowhere and collapsed once he saw Meredith was okay. We got him to where I'd left the supplies and we tried to patch up his hand. I freaked out because of the _Seattle Grace Mercy Death _curseand because Mark wouldn't help, I went over to him but he was barely holding on. He'd had cardiac tamponade, but never once complained. Maybe he hadn't realised it was physical pain. Meredith saved his life with makeshift surgery and then we all made our way to the other half of the plane, leaving Lexie behind, to where Arizona and the pilot were. We made a fire for warmth and waited it out, someone had to find us eventually. I had tried to keep everyone awake, there was no way of knowing who had concussion or how bad, not to mention internal injuries, but eventually the fatigue, hunger and cold had set in and we all succumbed to sleep.

* * *

I threw the magazine back down on the table and got up, I couldn't sit still any longer. _The sofa would look much better against the other wall, and if the television went there instead, yes that would open the whole room up so much. _Putting so much energy into something else, I was sure it would stop my mind from thinking about what happened next, but nothing ever did. I understood more about Owen's PTSD now, understood that the choking incident wasn't his fault, because I knew how dreams could feel so real, how you tried to save those you lost over and over again but to no avail. How you were in a completely different place in your head to your body. But no matter how much I dreamed or moved furniture around, I couldn't change the outcome.

* * *

I'd woken up to continuous coughing, opened my eyes slowly and looked over towards the plane, where I found the source of the noise and saw blood coming from Arizona's mouth. I went to see if I could help her but she really needed to get to a hospital, why had we not been rescued? I looked at Mark, he didn't look good _at all_, he wasn't going to last much longer, in fact…I panicked for a moment but when I checked his pulse, it was still there…just.

Why had nobody come to save us? Why? I made a decision, I would wake Meredith, as the only two people able to move far we would have to choose a direction, walk that way, and try and find some help, otherwise we would all die out here. I walked over to Meredith and shook her slightly, but as her body shifted under my touch something felt wrong. I shook her harder and harder screaming her name but it didn't help. As I put my fingers to my best friend's neck I already knew what I would (or rather, wouldn't) find. I looked down and saw that Derek was still holding her hand and that's when I noticed him, looking as lifeless as his wife. I checked his pulse too, although there really wasn't any point, they had both gone.

I didn't cry like I had with Lexie, I was in shock and denial, all emotion left me, I felt empty. I went back to Arizona and told her what had happened as I checked on the pilot. We all sat in silence for a while until we heard a humming overheard and I looked up to see a helicopter. They had seen the destruction of the surrounding trees and were coming into land. We were saved! But I couldn't bring herself to be happy about it because they were too late to save my friends.

When Search and Rescue made there way over to the plane, I took charge. I got them to look at Mark first, then Arizona and finally the pilot. I updated them on their conditions just like I would if I were telling an attending whilst on rounds. They loaded the three of them into the helicopter and took them to the nearest hospital. I didn't know where that was, I hoped it would be Seattle Grace but I wasn't sure how long we had been in the air before the plane went down. As they set off they left one medic on the ground with me. I wouldn't leave my friends alone in the woods, I would get the medic to check them out and let him confirm what I already knew. Maybe somebody else telling me would make it real.

I took him to Meredith and Derek. It was a beautiful yet tragic scene. Both clinging to each other, at least they didn't die alone, they were together at the end, that was the first hint of destiny. It didn't take the medic long to know, he dipped his head as he checked them both. He didn't say anything, nothing needed to be said. I just nodded solemnly and gestured for him to follow me as I made my way to the tail end of the plane. When I asked him to help remove the chunk of metal from on top of Lexie he looked at me sadly, I didn't need his pity, he had to understand, she was one of us, I had to free her and bring her home. Whatever his feelings, he agreed, maybe just to have something to do whilst we waited for the helicopter to return, I didn't care as long as he helped. We both struggled, but managed to lever it upwards and hold it in place with other bits of metal that had broken off in the crash. Well Lexie had been wrong about one thing, her arm _was_ still attached. But what was the point of two arms when your heart wasn't beating? I pulled her out from under the wreckage before it all had chance to give way and come crashing down again. She looked…broken. But she didn't feel as cold as she should have. I checked her pulse, I couldn't find one but I was in shock, I wasn't reliable. So I called the medic over and got him to check. He breathed a sigh of relief. It was too much for me, I passed out.

* * *

I sat on the newly positioned sofa and cried, so much had changed since that day. I should be used to death by now, but this was Meredith, we had always been there for each other and now, it was hard to go on alone. Nobody left Seattle Grace after that. We all needed to lean on each other, come together as a family. So we all started our fellowships where we began. I don't think any of us would ever even think of leaving again, who knew what would happen if we tried.

The pilot had survived but was paralysed below the waist. He didn't know what had caused the crash but none of us blamed him, we were so used to fate or destiny or whatever, playing it's crappy games with us like we were pawns on a chess board.

Arizona had some internal bleeding, due to a couple of cracked ribs but none of her organs were badly damaged. Her leg was shot, it had got infected as it had taken search and rescue so long to find us and they couldn't save it. She was in a wheelchair now. Callie tried to persuade her to get a prosthetic leg but she hadn't liked the sensation of walking and not being able to feel underfoot.

After surgery and bed rest Mark had fully healed. He had continuously defied the nurses and kept leaving his bed and wandering off to see Lexie until they finally pulled strings to get his bed set up in her room, and there he stayed by Lexie's side for 14 days until she had woken up. It had taken her nine months after that for her to take just one step, she persevered, ignored all the doubters who said she would never walk again, and finally it paid off. Her and Mark celebrated her victory that night and another nine months after that Matthew Zachariah Sloan was born, on time, with no complications or added drama, weighing a very healthy 8lb 9oz.

Derek had left the dream house to Mark, because "his dreams have always been my dreams" but they were unsure whether they wanted to live there or not. After they found out about the pregnancy though, they decided that they should move. Derek had always intended little ones to be running around the place (it was a family home) and they could use the extra space. Mark's apartment was too small for the growing family: the baby would need it's own bedroom, as would Sofia. Lexie asked Callie and Arizona if they wanted to move in too. Having the apartment across the hall, they were practically living together anyway and there was a en-suite guest bedroom on the ground floor which had easy wheelchair access and plenty of privacy. The house was certainly big enough that they could share and still have their own space. It also meant that Sofia would be living with all of them all of the time. When Lexie had pitched the idea to Mark beforehand he had actually cried. At that moment he knew that this time they would stay together because she had thought about and accepted Sofia, Callie and Arizona as his family. She was about to give birth to their own child and they talked every decision over together. At that moment he knew it was the right time to propose.

Of course she said yes; with the stipulation that they would wait till she could walk down the aisle.

They also had a spare bed left over for the night's they looked after Zola…

…when both Owen and I were at the hospital. It was a hard decision for me to take Owen back, it took time to build that trust up again, but I loved him so much and after that day I felt I couldn't take that for granted, so I worked at the relationship, we both did and two years later we are still together. Taking custody of Zola was strangely an easy decision. Meredith had entrusted me as godmother and I felt I owed it to her to do my best, just like she had. It had been strange for Owen at first, after our disagreements over children in the past, but at the end of the day he was raising a child with me. It was all he ever wanted.

* * *

The sound of a key in the lock disturbed my thoughts as the door opened and I heard Owen's voice. "Christina, are you ready yet? We've got to leave in ten minutes" He called up the stairs.

"Uh" I replied, as I wiped the tears from my eyes "Yeah, nearly, I just-" I trailed off.

"You okay?" he asked concerned as he ascended the staircase, Zola in his arms. "Have you been moving the furniture again?" He mock chastised as he walked into the living room. "You need to find something different to distract you, heavy lifting in your condition…it's not good for the baby."

I put my hand to my stomach automatically. I wasn't showing yet, it was still early days but I knew I was keeping it. If the crash had taught me anything it was that life is short, and looking after Zola showed me that all the fears over not being able to be a surgeon and a mother just drifted away. It really could be done, so long as you tried hard enough. Plus after losing a baby and a fallopian tube and then getting pregnant twice more, I figured that maybe it was destiny…and I sure as hell couldn't control it. Sometimes you just have to go with the plan that the world has in store for you.

I knew for sure that this wouldn't be the life of all of us now if it weren't for that crash, we would be scattered across the country living all these separate lives. I looked up at Owen, tears filling my eyes once more. "Two years" I whispered, he just nodded solemnly, there just wasn't anything that could be said. "Do we really have to go today?" I asked.

"Christina" he replied with a hint of warning in his voice.

"I know, it's just, today of all days?" I questioned.

"Yes, you know how much they've thought about it, but this date is significant for them, if it wasn't for what happened in those woods, who knows where either of them would be. It pushed them back together, they were both on the brink of death and they survived when others didn't. If that's not a sign that they were destined to be, I don't know what is. And being party to this day would have made both Derek and Meredith extremely happy, you and I both know how close they came to banging their heads together." He chuckled.

"Yeah, the whole hospital came pretty close to that" Christina laughed. "Right, come on Miss Zola" She addressed the young toddler as she took her from Owen's arms "Let's get you to Auntie Lexie and Uncle Mark's Wedding, it's only taken them six years!

* * *

**So I realise that some of this is a little stilted but the idea has been in my head for a while and I wanted to get it down.**

**But I'd like your comments and reactions anyway - Review? :)**

**Also apologies to merder fans but this is one fic, we slexie fans aren't so lucky**

**Also this is a one-shot and I think it's going to remain that way because I've got two fics on the go and two forming in my head. But I'm going to finish the on going ones before I start any others because I'm useless at updating as it is and you guys deserve finished stories.**


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